Accounts · 7 min read
When the iPhone belonged to someone who died
Apple built a path for this. It is slow, documented, and nothing like a passcode bypass.
If they added you as a Legacy Contact, you get an access key. Use digital-legacy.apple.com. You do not need their passcode. You do need the key and a death certificate in most cases.
If they did not, Apple’s process is narrower. Some data may be inaccessible. A court order is sometimes the only remaining route, and it is not fast.
Do not factory-reset the phone hoping to “get in.” You will hit Activation Lock and may make a legal process harder.
Carriers can often transfer the phone number with an estate document. That is separate from the photos on the handset.
This is grim work. Official channels are the ones that still work a year later.